A new methodology to assess the nation's potential to store carbon dioxide (CO2) is available.
The U.S. Geological Survey will commence a national assessment of CO2 storage potential now that its assessment methodology is complete. This research can be used to plan for the long-term storage of CO2 to help lessen the impacts of climate change.
“The estimation of domestic or global CO2 storage resource in geologic formations is challenging,” said USGS Energy Resources Program Coordinator Brenda Pierce. “This methodology utilizes innovative calculation tools with robust geologic interpretation and allows for an assessment that can characterize the storage potential in a uniform manner across the United States.”
The new methodology identifies a means to assess the mass of CO2 that can be retained within the pore space in underground rocks. The process of injecting liquid CO2 into subsurface rocks is known as geologic carbon sequestration.
